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Olivier Group: Super Admins Posts: 1868 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 24 2004, 23:31 mikeoldfield.com has put online scans of articles and interviews about Maestro and Mike's future album in Internet Magazine (June) and The Times (Jun 24). Back to top

christopher Group: Members Posts: 270 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 25 2004, 18:08 Oh I'm really excited for Mike!!  He seems to be very happy and asking good questions about himself.  "Why am I so unhip?"  I personally believe that Mike's music is too advanced and intellegent for the average listener.  And I DO NOT think this is a bad thing at all!!  Rather be true to yourself than try to please everyone and be hip!!   Now, the mention of a new Techno track is AWESOME!!!!!!!!  I am so pleased that Mike has turned away from the soundscape rubbish!!!!!  Though Tres Lunas is nice, it is not by any means a developed album.  Atleast heading back towards the days of TB3 and all the techno stuff means more complicated and enduring pieces that are fast, motivating, and energetic, and for that I'm truley in anticipation of his next album!!!!!!!! ROCK ON MIKE OLDFIELD - you are hipper than you think you are!!!  Just lay off the Tubular Bells - I fear that has added to your speculation of being unhip!?! Chris Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: June 26 2004, 13:11 Quote (christopher @ June 25 2004, 18:08) Now, the mention of a new Techno track is AWESOME!!!!!!!!  I am so pleased that Mike has turned away from the soundscape rubbish!!!!!  Though Tres Lunas is nice, it is not by any means a developed album.  Atleast heading back towards the days of TB3 and all the techno stuff means more complicated and enduring pieces that are fast, motivating, and energetic, and for that I'm truley in anticipation of his next album!!!!!!!! Eek, are you sure about that? To me, his dabbling with Techno could mean that he has found another excuse not to write a decent melody! A Mike Oldfield Techno track to me sounds like something even less complicated than the Spice Girls' hit singles! I could be wrong, but I doubt it. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: June 26 2004, 16:04 If Mike's techno is much like Steve Hillage's System 7,no worries,pals! -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

Korgscrew Group: Super Admins Posts: 3511 Joined: Dec. 1999 Posted: June 26 2004, 18:50 System 7's music is quite a contrast from the work which most fans seem to deem is Mike's best. They use some very creative ideas, but like a lot of Hillage/Giraudy compositions, a fair bit of time seems to be dedicated to repetitive floatiness. Mike seems to be headed in that direction as well though, albeit 14 years after the release of System 7's debut album (and of course, they were far from the first, though their featuring of the electric guitar makes them closer to what Mike is doing). But...first techno track? Er...what was that stuff on Tubular Bells 3 all about then? How about The Millennium Bell? Perhaps we can persuade him to have a go at recording his first folk track next... Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: June 26 2004, 19:53 And what happened with the 'simple atmospheres and melodies' idea? As  Bob Dylan once sang 'oh the times they are a changin'   Back to top

MaXiMo Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: Jan. 2003 Posted: June 27 2004, 10:30 Well... Mike and Techno music? no thanks... why doesn't he return to his old kind of music? I'd like to see him playing guitars as he used to, not playing electric machines to record music. I know that Mike with Tubular Bells began techno music, but that's not his way.. or that's what I think.. And.. it's true, where are the 'simple atmospheres and melodies' now? -------------- If you want to be a good person, you must be like me. Back to top

christopher Group: Members Posts: 270 Joined: Nov. 1999 Posted: June 27 2004, 11:30 Mike has done ok semi-techno in the past, but nothing hard core!!  As he mentioned he has been listening to the 19yo's on the web that create techno on their PC.  Those type of tracks are drastically different from TMB and TB3.   I'd rather Mike head back towards techno than to dabble in that atmosphere and soundscape rubbish from the two video games, anymore!!!  Absolute no brainer that style of music!!!  Techno atleat takes ALOT of creativity and engenuity!   Let's not make judgements that might send Mike back towards something bland and aweful - say another album full of MusicVR soundscapes! Chris Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: June 27 2004, 14:00 I think things would sound a lot more palatable if everyone stopped using the word 'techno'. Mike has never composed a techno track. Techno is a high octane, very intense and often very tuneless sub-genre of dance music that arguably died out in the mid 90's. Most people outside the dance music scene simply refer quite wrongly to all dance music as techno. The few dance tracks Mike has composed already, the Secrets tracks, The Millenium Bell and the bat cave sequence music in Tres Lunas are very roughly, and I would argue somewhat half-heartedly, in the genre of dance music called Trance which was hugely popular in the mid to late 90's, though not so much now. Could Mike ever compose good dance music? For me the answer to this question depends entirely on how much Mike has being paying attention to the dance music scene and how often he goes clubbing. He obviously has more than enough musical talent to be able to do it but is his finger on the pulse of dance music culture which is for ever changing and is incredibly led by what sounds and beats are currently in vogue? However there may well be a difference by what we think Mike's take on dance music may be and what his actualy is. It could be that he's talking about doing experimental eletronica using all his latest software having listened to what other (younger) people are doing with it. This may well be what he has in mind rather than try and write music that is going to be accepted by your average clubber. If Mike's got the  creative fire back in his belly and is currently doing something new, experimental and original with his considerable talent then COOL, I can't wait to hear it. However I think those fans who feel cynical about the whole idea have every right to be. Mike's recent history of half-hearted bandwaggon jumping attempts at Trance music (and Chill Out for that matter) haven't been original or experimental in my opinion, just wishy washy and forgetable. The other thing Mike should remember before diving head first into dance music is that the general consensus of critics and music buyers is that dance music is pretty much dead now. Even the good dance acts like the Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Faithless have had recent albums criticaly torn to pieces for their lack of being able to do anything new. If these guys can't do anything original anymore I don't see Mike setting the world on fire but then again thats maybe not what he's aiming for, however he obviously seems keen to be 'in vogue' again so good luck to him. I sincerely hope he can pick up more fans than he sheds of old, though part of me thinks thats a rather sad thing in every meaning of the word. ps Christopher. 'Rock on Mike Oldfield you're hipper than you think you are' Where's your evidence for this chap? I'd be hard pushed to come up with any artist who's percieved as being less hip than Mike, Phil Collins maybe. Back to top

TheMann Group: Members Posts: 103 Joined: June 2004 Posted: June 29 2004, 17:36 Hi Toby and others (I once again forgot my password, so now I am TheMann, not TheMan). Now, why on earth why a geniuos like Mike ask himself the silly question "why am I so unhip"??? I cannot believe that Mike really said that; I hope not. Why bother at all with what is considered to be "hip"? Why care about if Mike's music is on the charts? What matters is if the music is brilliant or not. Personally I don't want Mike to be on the charts, I want him to develop subtile music, breaking new grounds, or see him showing off his superior talent like he did on Tubular Bells 2003. (I am listening to the Finale right now, ... , Oh Man how GOOD it is!!!!!! delicate, fantastic!!! This excellent rerecording has made me love a work that I never really liked before ... (in contrast to Incantations, Ommadawn, AMAROK, TSODE etc)) Mike is going to make "techno" again ? ... well, as TOBY said, anything truly new and ambitious from Mike is more than welcome, even though I share Toby's worries here. Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: June 29 2004, 18:29 Welcome back The Man. If you read the times article linked to above then you'll read about Mike himself wondering why he's managed to remain so unhip for so long? To which I would have to ask him exactly what he thinks he's done in the last say 10 years to be hip? TB3? A chill out album? I can't think of much else. It obviously bothers him that he's not hip or popular anymore, which is fair enough really as it bother me if I were him, but what does he think it will take to get himself popular again? I can tell him what it won't take and that is desperately trying to be someting he isn't and composing music in whatever genre he thinks is going to get him noticed. It worked briefly for him in the 80's with his brush with song writing success, which incidently I think he's pretty good at, he's just rubish at writing lyrics. TSODE was a pretty good stab at taking a then popular genre (that Enigma type ambient/new agey, synth and beat driven style) in a new and different high concept direction but it certainly didn't win over a mass audience. Had he taken a more direct approach to dance music with TB3, rather than putting in a more side lined half hearted effort, that would have been his one recent chance at big success. Dance music was at it's most creative and populist peak round about 98 and if he wasn't accepted again then I can't see it happening now however good or 'in vogue' his next ablum is. I do hope his next album is a success for him but at the end of the day only he has the power to do things that will make it a success. Play live and get noticed, patch up the flagging relationship with the fans and above all else actualy produce an album that people will want to hear again and again and again, even if its all eletronica. Back to top

olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: June 29 2004, 19:23 Us old gits get very confused with all the different genres of dance music. garage, House, Techno, all that. We tend to lump it all together into one easy to remember (the brain cells start dieing) brand. So, god knows what he really means, probably more to do with the software he's discovered than the the actual music. as far as the hip thing goes, i think he really wants some sort of musical recognition, as an artiste rather than as a "trendy" icon. stranger things have happened, old comedians you thought were dead become huge stars again with a new, younger audience. the game stuff was badly publicised and promoted, and never got into the mainstream. Perhaps decent management is required? -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: June 30 2004, 07:30 I might sound rude, but to my ears, it sounds like Mike simply forgotten that it takes effort to make good music. It's been years since Mike last wrote a solid, original melody. Seriously! If you go back on his recent catalogue, you can count on the fingers of your right hand how many tracks are based on something vaguely reminiscing a melody, and when there is one, it's merely a recycling of old motifs. Look, whatever genre of music you're going to do, you have to put effort on it. Heck, I've listened to Jarre's "Geometry Of Love" and "Metamorphoses", and I was genuinely surprised to see how well he has absorbed Lounge and Dance music. Has Mike really absorbed Dance and Chill-Out music to make The Millennium Bell and Tr3s Lunas? Not at all, I think! Everything I can find there are pale, pale immitations. When he makes a truly great thing, it's normally by accident. As long as Mike keeps thinking that it's easy to make music, he'll continue being mediocre, IMHO. He can be doing Techno, Chill-Out, Folk, Reggae, whatever! I don't care anymore. I just want some solid music, and I think it's fair for me to expect that. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: June 30 2004, 09:19 The quality is missing,and a coesive work. He is able to do great stuff,and he knows it. But he kinda of forgot how to use that! -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: June 30 2004, 16:13 I've always got the impression Jean Michel Jarre is a lot more aware of other peoples music than Mike ever has been. How often have you read an interview with Mike where he's said he never (or rarely) listens to other people's music? It is the one consistant thing he always says 'I rarely pay attention to music outside of making it' he pretty much says. Jarre on the other hand obviously and rightly laps up the fact his (early) works are now seemed as the classics of eletronica and he often name checks bands like the Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin and Underworld (I've read he's a big Underworld fan) as having an influence back on him. Has Mike ever name checked any contemporary bands and artists? Not often if ever in recent times to my knowledge. Though I dare say he must be reasonably aware of what people are doing but is he THAT aware to take on board how original and creative some dance acts are being with beats and arangements? If he has been aware in recent years it hasn't filtered through to his own compositions which is intresting and dis-hearting. Personaly I thought the Secrets tracks on TB3 were so suprisingly two dimentional and dull I really had to question whether a man with Mike's talent was really behind them. Pretty much anybody with a minimal amount of equipment could knock together something more dynamic built around a TB style backing track than what Mike did with those two tracks. And similarly with all his other attempts at dance music. Back to top

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: July 01 2004, 07:15 Is there any English translation of the World Premiere of Tres Lunas (05/30/2002, Valencia) video? I'm asking because he said interesting things about music business, how he composes and that we need new ways of expressing our creativity. So if there isn't any translation, I could translate it if you want. -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

Allan_N Group: Musicians Posts: 29 Joined: Oct. 2000 Posted: July 04 2004, 04:34 I've got the video clip. It's in Hungarian. Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: July 04 2004, 09:12 Quote (Allan_N @ July 04 2004, 05:34) I've got the video clip. It's in Hungarian. Got also the video,need the translation in English. -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

RaWi Group: Members Posts: 29 Joined: June 2004 Posted: Aug. 21 2004, 10:23 I found a very small notice with a picture from Mike in his studio in the german FOCUS 28/2004,side 96! You can read a notice about "Maestro". Have a nice day, Ralf Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Aug. 21 2004, 12:27 Quote (RaWi @ Aug. 21 2004, 11:23) I found a very small notice with a picture from Mike in his studio in the german FOCUS 28/2004,side 96! You can read a notice about "Maestro". Have a nice day, Ralf Any scan of it? -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

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